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    Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings: Third Edition
    Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings: Third Edition
    Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings: Third Edition
    Ebook342 pages2 hours

    Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings: Third Edition

    By Verna Cook Salomonsky

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    About this ebook

    This well-known reference work has been consulted by generations of collectors, curators, dealers, historians, and craftsmen, and it remains in use decades after its initial publication. Photographs and measured drawings of the most striking furniture pieces of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries constitute the major part of the book; the accompanying text indicates stylistic features and developments, prototypes, types of wood, function, and location of the original.
    Selected mainly from collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design, the objects include chests, tables, chairs, dressing tables, desks, highboys, commodes, couches, and other furniture. Periods and styles include Colonial American, Duncan Phyfe, Windsor, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Chippendale, Louis XIV, eighteenth-century Dutch, sixteenth-century Italian, and representatives of other eras. The book's most outstanding features are the measured drawings for each piece of furniture. Accurate to the nearest 1/16th of an inch, these drawings are especially valuable for woodworkers creating detailed replicas.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateNov 24, 2015
    ISBN9780486170220
    Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings: Third Edition

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      Masterpieces of Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings - Verna Cook Salomonsky

      PLATES

      Plate No. 1

      SIDE CHAIR

      Italian XVI Century

      THE creative ability of the Italians during the 16th century is reflected in the designing and fashioning of furniture, as well as in the other arts. England and France received much inspiration from this period of the Italian Renaissance.

      The dominant characteristics of this furniture were a strongly developed architectural character of outline, the absence of luxurious comfort which we find in many of the succeeding styles, and the feeling of dignity attained by well balanced construction and richly ornamented surfaces, contrasting with structural frames of simple designs.

      The contour of this piece is characteristic of 16th century Italian chairs. The deeply tenoned stretchers and rails give a decided staunchness to its structure.

      A point of difference between this and other models lies in the broad stretcher between the fore legs which is decoratively scrolled and pierced. In addition, the underpart of the side stretchers are shaped.

      The unpadded back and the padded seat are covered with leather and held in place by rows of brass headed nails. The intricate design on the back leather is exquisitely tooled in gold.

      The acanthus finials, terminating the back supports, are typical of this period. In this instance, they are gilded and it is quite probable that this gilding has been applied over a coat of red, superimposed on a coat of white.

      The short fringe around the lower edge of the seat apron and at the bottom of the back is of dull green silk.

      Plate No. 2

      ITALIAN ARM CHAIR

      XVI Century

      THE interiors of Italian palaces in the early Renaissance were graced by but few pieces of furniture. Chests, benches, stools and chairs, beds and tables were usually considered all that was necessary. Walnut was the wood most generally used.

      This particular chair was built in the 16th century, the period of the High Renaissance, Craftsmen at that time knew the efficient use and combination of materials. They were fully aware of the effect to be obtained by relieving the severity of line with the introduction of rich carvings, turnings or patterns of cut-out design. Their ability in this direction is illustrated in this chair by the bold scrolled outline at the lower edge of the broad front stretcher.

      Thick leather, tacked to the back posts, is without support except by one cross rail at the top of the back. The leather forming the seat is attached only to the side rails and is tacked to the four leg members. The seat is without framework at front and rear.

      The arms are perfectly horizontal with broadening tops which return sharply at their juncture with the back posts. This projection at the top of the arms rolls over at the front.

      An optical illusion is produced by the photograph which gives the legs the appearance of slanting toward the top, whereas in reality all of the legs are perpendicular.

      Plate No. 3

      ITALIAN XVI CENTURY CHAIR

      THE furniture of the Italian Renaissance did not attain the degree of luxury nor comfort which was so marked in both France and England.

      This small side chair—presumably made for a child—is rectangular in form with the back slightly raked, the slant commencing at the seat line. The front legs, of delicate turning, rise above the level of the seat but are not covered by the upholstery. The uprights of the back, terminating in exceedingly delicate finials, are connected by upper and lower horizontal rails shaped in a scrolled pattern, strongly influenced by the Baroque. Large decorative rosettes are carved in the center of both the cresting and lower rail, which are joined by short, delicately turned spindles.

      The seat, which tapers slightly toward the back, is covered with velvet brocade of a rich, red color, and finished at the lower edge with a narrow fringe of the same color. Small, turned buttons, recalling the designs of the larger rosettes on the back rails, conceal the heads of the wooden pegs on the legs and back supports.

      The small side chairs were the most pleasing and the most successfully designed chairs of this time in Italy.

      Plate No. 4

      SPANISH CHAIR

      XVII Century

      THE few items of Spanish furniture which were in common use during the 17th century were those dictated by necessity. Of importance were chairs which in structural form resembled those of Italian origin. They were prevailingly rectilinear and of robust contour. Walnut was the material most frequently employed, although pine, oak and other woods were used to a lesser extent.

      In the specimen shown here, knob and baluster-like turnings decorate the rectangular framework of back and leg supports. The contour of the rear legs, however, differs both in form and scale from that of the front legs. Of particular interest is the oddly shaped front stretcher, carved in bold relief.

      The Spanish were excellent leather craftsmen, their products creating admiration throughout Europe. At this time, as well as in the 18th century, decorative leathers were used in Spain by cabinet makers for the coverings of seats and backs of chairs. These were held in place by rows of large brass-headed tacks, producing an ornamental edging at chair rails and at back supports. In this example a flowing Renaissance design is embossed upon the broad leather surfaces.

      Also distinctly Spanish is the use of brass finials which in this chair are placed at the top of the back supports.

      Plate No. 5

      CROMWELLIAN TYPE ARM CHAIR

      English About 1660

      AFTER the reign of Charles I of England, the so-called Cromwellian style came into vogue, following on the heels of the Jacobean. The chairs of this period, made of hard wood, were of rather heavy character, although lighter than those of the previous style, with a square half-back and seat upholstered in leather of an Oriental fabric. An invariable feature of these chairs was the turned or twisted legs and stretchers, which made their appearance at this time and persisted for several centuries afterwards.

      This particular arm-chair is made of walnut. The twisting and turnings are both easy and graceful. The square ends of the arms terminate in turned rosettes of excellent design.

      The quaint charm, due in some measure to the squareness and sturdiness of its proportions, is heightened by an unusually attractive upholstery of petit point, with a design of bright flowers in tones of yellow on a blue-green field. This material, however, is undoubtedly of later date than the chair. The upholstery on the back is not cushioned but stretched and tacked to a heavy framework, exposed from the rear.

      Side chairs of this style employ the same design.

      Plate No. 6

      LEATHER-COVERED CHAIR

      American 1625-1675

      THIS chair of American Colonial execution is similar in type to that shown on the preceding plate. It is of the severe and angular construction favored at this period and reflects a spirit of honest and conscientious craftsmanship.

      Its shallow padded seat and squat back panels are upholstered in leather held in place by rows of brass headed nails and covered in a like material are the connecting portions of the back supports.

      The framing of knob-turned work, as developed in this chair, is from an earlier English source than is the spiral turnings. Both manners of treating chair frames, however, gained popularity abroad and in

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